The Feral Situation
by Lady Shadowfire
Summary: Chap 4, finally. It is a response to CajunClaws challenge over at the Wolverine and Jubilee interative hub. It involves Jubilee, Logan, Creed and possibly Remy.
1. Discoveries in the Snow

This is a repost of the story that the NC-17 Purge wiped off of FF.Net. It's rating has been changed to R, but if there are any NC-17 scene's in this, I'll be sure to inform you before you read them. 

Responding to CajunClaws' challenge, I present, 

The Feral Situation

Chapter 1

Discoveries in the Snow

It started off the way it always did. The guards came up to the bars of the cell, one of them tossed a gas grenade in and another hit the force shield around the cage to stop the gas flowing out to them. A few minutes later, the subject was fast asleep, with no idea what was about to happen. Not that the subject would have been able to do anything, in any case. But this time, the subject wasn't headed to one of the sub genetic labs for DNA upgrades. This time it was something more.

"She's not a bad looker, hey?"

"Are you nuts? She's a mutant freak, and _dangerous_. She'd kill ya before she'd let ya pound 'er." The guards were quieted by the look from one of the science technicians who was hauling the unconscious girl onto a gurney.

With a full contingent of guards, twelve in all, the three sci-techs wheeled the subject down the halls to the lab where the final experiments would take place, before they took the vital but expensive measures of having the girls memories altered. 

Even as they set the girl up in the sensory depravation the hired telepath stepped into the lab and took a good look at the girl's mind.

"Well Corlla?"

Corlla the mercenary telepath turned and nodded to her employer.

"I can do it, but it's going to cost you another thirty thousand. That girl has impressive shields and I'm going to be exhausted by the time I punch through them. If you want me to rewrite her memories into something sensible and useable, it won't be easy."

"We are well aware of this. And we expected as much from you. We are prepared to offer you an extra fifty thousand, if you do a very, very good job. We have no wish to lose this one, with or without memories. Twenty-five now, the other half when the job is done and we are convinced. This is, of course, on top of your normal fee."

"You're willing to pay a hundred and fifty for this girl? May I ask why?"

"Confidential. We are willing to tell you that this girl is a mutant of great potential power. And, as you can no doubt tell, her psychic shields are a great asset. We do not wish you to do them too much damage."

Corlla nodded and turned back to look at the girl who was floating in the large tank of electrolyte liquid.

"I'll start the process while you bond the metal. It will be much easier now, then when she's recovered."

"Very well." The man in the sleek black suit nodded and walked back out the door. He wasn't stupid enough to stay here during the bonding process. After what had happened last time…

No. No one would be stupid enough to stay there.

It was only a slight shift in the darkness that woke her. She didn't know why she was trained so highly to respond to these shifts, but she knew it was essential to keep that training sharp. 

As soon as the sun crested the horizon, she was up and moving. There was something behind her that was dangerous to her, and she had to get away from it. She was moving her den. Some place…other then here. 

She knew, instinctively, that she had to go South. She had to cross the two-legger boarder. 

"Canada. Americaaarrrrgggg…" The word was half a growl, half a purr. Home, the word said. Pack lands her instincts added. Huge human cities, the thinking part of her brain spoke up and very suddenly got the attention of every other part of her mind.

'Humans. Humans did this to me. I am human. Humans attacked me. I am human…'

A shift in the wind stopped that particular train of thought. She could smell an intruder, very faintly, but there. A single thought in her mind said that she was the intruder, and she had to move before the territory owner came looking for her. The scent was male. A bachelor mountain lion, perhaps looking for a mate? No, there was something far more human about it then animal, though the animal was definitely there too.

'Like me. I am human. I am animal.' A thought shifted, and underneath that thought, she could feel a memory, trying hard to get to the surface. 

__

"I'm more animal then human sometimes, just a little more. Sometimes, that ain't such a bad thing, kid. Sometimes it's the worst thing in the world."

"Like that matters to me. Yer always just Wolvie, that's enough."

She grunted slightly. That hadn't been a memory she'd been expecting. The memories she had at the moment were all of pain, and chemicals, and humans. The man in this memory really was as much animal as she was. Now. That girl in her memory. That had been her…

Something shifted nearby, and a small ground finch flew up a hundred meters or so away. She raised her nose and sniffed. 

The male was close. Very close. He was watching her. There was confusion in his scent, and wariness…but not as much hostility as she had expected. 

She could hear him now. There was breathing nearby, trying to match hers so as to stay quiet, but she knew how to mix her breathing so she could hear things. 

She shifted around and crouched expectantly. Crouching behind her, the large human-like creature was watching her with a rather stunned expression.

"Frail?" She shifted back a bit. She understood the word, and what it meant. Weak, breakable. She wasn't. No one would break her. No one. Especially not some upstart little feral. "Kid?" She wasn't a kitten. Why was this creature treating her like they should know each other? "Jubilee?"

Her mind blanked out completely, and her legs collapsed so she fell to her knees. 

Jubilee. Of course…she was Jubilee. Jubilation Lee to be exact…and this man…this _human_ in front of her was…Creed? Enemy? No. There was no hostility. Just…confusion in his scent. A memory shifted aside, and she knew she'd fought him before. She knew his moves. She knew he was unpredictable. She knew he knew who she was. That made him…ally potential. 

"C-Creed?"

"Damn. So the rumours were right. They gotcha." He stood up very slowly, and calmly extended a hand to her. "Jubilee, girl, do ya know who I am?" The words mixed around a bit, then her mind made sense of them and she shrugged. The human gesture set of a small chain reaction of memories.

__

"Will she live through this?" The sci-tech shrugged and turned to the man in the black suit, and the woman with the long yellow blonde hair. 

"Depends on her, sir. And on how hard the telepath hits her. We gave her more drugs then with the other experiments, but then, her healing factor is new, and we don't know how strong it is yet."

"Understandable, of course. Finish the process then, Corlla. I want her inducted and ready for sale by this time next week."

Jubilee, since that was apparently who she was, grunted again and then snarled up at Creed as she too stood to her full hight. Which, annoyingly enough, was half a head shorter then his. She blinked when she realised this was wrong. She should have been at least a full foot and more shorter then the tall feral. Now she stood slightly taller then Wolvie would have been. 

"Wolvie. Where…Creed? Wolvie? Kill them." That last came at the sudden memory of two technicians who had been discussing the Wolverine and how his time with the program differed from hers. 

"Easy kid…where? Where are They?" No need for him to ask who.

Jubilee patiently shifted through her memories, only partially paying attention to the man in front of her. There were a lot of memories of blood, and even more of burning smells and cooked flesh. Whoops. The Professor wasn't going to like that. Oh…the Professor…at least her memories were starting to work again.

"Dead. Killed 'em. Professor? Please?" Words were hard coming, but she said what she considered important. Creed had never heard her use the word please on him. It would have an effect.

"Sure kid. I got a jeep not to far from here. You gonna keep a hold of yourself on the ride? Don't wanna handle a pyrotechnic feral who ain't quite there yet."

She thought about it for some minutes, and he patiently waited. He understood that she needed to think. Most animals wouldn't willingly walk into something unknown without thinking hard first.

"Food?" Creed nodded, and he pulled the rough, battered old bag from his shoulders. She hadn't even realised he'd been carrying it. With slow movements, as slow as everything else he did…she realised he didn't want to set her off by startling her, he pulled a canteen and some travel rations out. Laying them on the ground in front of him, he backed off and sat down on a near by log, waiting for her to finish the food inspection.

With a last, satisfied sniff, she wolfed down the travel rations, consisting of jerky, nuts, dried fruit and some chocolate, and then took a small sip of the water.

The chocolate sparked more memories, and she felt her human-self coming to the fore.

"Sabertooth? Why…you not…trying to kill me?" The sentence was said in between shovelling more food in and drinking.

"Curiosity. You know me now?"

"Sorta. Hard ta…remember. Telepath. Did the hokey pokey with my mind." She considered everything she currently knew…realised that the only things she really remembered from before he started triggering memories were what happened in the labs, and that she'd escaped before the 'path had done more then wipe her memories. "Nothin' false. Just…memory wipe. Painful. Need tha Prof." She smiled at the sceptical look on his face and then snarled when she felt her lips pull against her fangs. She shouldn't have fangs. 'Least, she didn't think she should have them.

"Won't freak…jus'…keep me way from humans. 'Less ya wanna see a slaughter." She looked at him and considered what she had just said. "Then again, maybe I should walk. Considerin' you an' all. Not a good influence in my state of mind, huh 'Tooth?"

"Nah. I' been huntin' them damn scientists for months now. If ya left any of 'em alive, they'll come after you; an' I wanna be there. 'Sides yer a week away from the boarder, the way you were going. Mountain range between here an' there." Jubilee sighed, sniffed, cocked her head to listen and then nodded.

"I behave, you behave. Xavier pays you. 'Kay?"

"Sounds good. 'Sides, bringin' you home might just rouse the runt. Haven't had a good fight with him for ages."

"He looked for me?"

"Went insane lookin' for ya…bout two months ago. How long they had ya?"

"Dunno. Been awhile. Two…three months, judging by what I remember. Maybe more. Maybe less. Can we go now? I'm kinda cold." Considering she was standing ankle deep in snow, had spent the last night in a cave, and wore only a jumpsuit she had stolen from one of the locker rooms on her way out of the compound, that was an understatement. She'd already gone through four lots of frostbite in her toes, which her healing factor had thankfully taken care of.

He took a careful step toward her and then gestured behind her. 

"That way. Want me ta go first?" He was obviously being wary of whatever telepathically induced training the mercenary 'path had given her. She shrugged and turned. 

"Don't care. My head hurts. Everything hurts. I need to cool it. How far away is your jeep, dude?"

"A mile. Cabin on the bottom ridge of that hill range over there. The jeep is a mile east of there. I'll meet you at the jeep. Gotta go get some clothes and money and things."

"'Kay." She was already off and running.

Little more then another hour later she was snuggled up on the back seat of the jeep, in one of Creed's old, muchly used blankets, listening as her memories came through bit by bit. Since it was Creed she was with, it was her memories of Creed that came first.

"Sorry 'bout that whole 'blowing a hole in your torso' thing, just by the way." The reference was to a fairly new memory. Creed had been in New York for something, and had run into the ladies on their shopping spree. Rogue, M, Husk and Jean had distracted him, while Storm and Jubilee had set up to blast him. It had been a pretty big blast.

"S'okay. Yer memories coming back then?"

"Slowly. Very, very slowly. I remember they snatched me from the Mass Academy. And they did a lot of weird…oh shit." Creed pulled the jeep over to one side of the dirt track that served as a road up there and turned to look at her. She was looking at her shaking hands.

"Frail?" Jubilee didn't take her eyes away from her hands. Very slowly she lowed the left one and focused on the right. Another memory surfaced.

__

"So how do ya get 'em to come out?" Jubilee bounced over a couch to sit beside the Wolverine. He was looking at his hands and considering the question.

"There's a muscle, just there, kid, that flexes when you get angry or tense." He pointed along one side of his right arm. "I flex that and they pop. I relax it, and they go back in."

Jubilee carefully, slowly flexed that little muscle, and flinched as three eight inch adamantium claws popped out of her knuckles. Creed growled in surprise.

"Ahh…okay, ow."


	2. Nightmares and deceptions

Repost of the second chapter,

Chapter 2

Nightmares and Deception.

It was a long and silent ride before Sabertooth finally pulled into the motel of a small town a day or so north of the USA boarder. He left her in the car, since she was now sound asleep, and went to get a room.

When he came back to the car he had the dilemma of having to wake the girl up, to get her into the room. Carefully he opened the back door of the jeep and jumped back as a paff shot out at him.

"It's just me!" There was a confused/wary scent and then humour coming from the small figure still raped up in his old blanket. 

"Never thought I'd hear ya say that…dude, I can't get out until you move." Creed obligingly shifted away from the door and wondered if all this was worth the trouble, just so he could find those Weapon X scientists he'd been looking for since he'd heard the rumours a month ago. He wasn't even sure if this kid had left any of them alive. Well, even if they were dead, he was sure he could get something fun out of this kid, even if it was just a fight with the runt, or using her as a hostage against the X-men. 

With quick, always moving eyes, she slid out and grabbed the room key from his claws. By the time he had the jeep locked and his bag over his shoulder, she was already in the room and cleaning herself up in the bathroom. Creed could understand the feeling. She was dirty, cold and tired. But since it was apparent that Weapon X had used feline DNA as well as wolf genes to heighten her senses, she was responding like a cat. Which meant a good cleaning was in order. No doubt next in the order would be food…hmm…good thing there was a little Chinese place around the corner. Unusual for such a tiny Canadian town, but welcome. 

By the time Jubilee was out of the shower, the smells of Chinese and beer permeated the motel room. She realised she'd been in the bathroom for at least half an hour or more, if Creed had already gotten food. 

The man himself was lounging on one of the beds, scanning the channels for any news about explosions or slaughters in the mountains. Not that there was likely to be anything, but it was worth a look. 

With an embarrassed yelp, as she passed the mirror on the motel wall, Jubilee grabbed Creed's old blanket and dived back into the bathroom. Utterly confused, Creed listened and heard ripping sounds coming from her direction and the usual snick as she popped and withdrew her claws. Finally a few minutes later she walked back out, wearing the bottom of the jumpsuit she'd been wearing all day, and a sort of poncho made from the old blanket. Considering the blanket had at one time been a bright blue, it had belonged to Mystique at one time, and was now faded to a soft light blue, it looked fine as a poncho. She'd used her claws to trim away any ragged bits.

At Creed's raised eyebrow she bared her teeth in what once would have been a friendly/silly grin but now looked like a snarl. 

"I just realised how little was left of that jumpsuit top. No way I'm hanging around you looking like a skank at a Hooker's Ball." The reference to the single's party left Creed even more confused, but he didn't say anything about it. 

"I'll get ya some clothes tomorrow. You eat, get some sleep." Jubilee gave him a considering look and then shrugged and grabbed for the chopsticks. "What?"

She stuffed a rice ball in her mouth and gave him another look. 

"Jus' wonderin' how you gonna use me this time." She picked up a plastic box of noodles and began to eat them with the rice balls, while he gaped at her in surprise.

"You know-"

"That, mrm yum, that you're going to use me some how? Please, Creed, I've been fighting you since I was thirteen. I know how you think. My memories are trickling back in, but most of them seem to be focused on you. Doesn't matter to me. I'm using you as well, so I can get back to the mansion without having to hike my way across Canada to do it."

"You…huh?" Creed's jaw was still hanging low in surprise. Jubilee eyed him again, this time in wonder. 

"So how are you going to use me? I mean, I'm pretty sure I didn't leave anyone alive, at least, no one you'd be able to get more information from about the higher ups of the Weapon X program. And I know for a fact I'd maybe be able to beat you in a fight or at least hold out against you. After all, I've got a healing factor, senses, claws telepathically upgraded fighting prowess, and my fireworks, which got slightly upgraded." She pointed at him and a paff exploded above his head. She had generated it from the air above him, instead of from her fingers like she had used to.

"Huh…Guess that leaves me with getting Cueball to pay me, and rilin' up the runt. For now, anyway."

"Whatever. I'm gonna sleep. You slit my throat while I'm sleepin', I'll haunt you for the rest of your life." She finished the noodles, threw the rubbish with good accuracy into the room's little bin and tucked in under the blankets of her bed. 

Creed pretended to watch the TV again, but he was really keeping an eye on the lump on the lumpy motel bed. He had been slightly surprised when she'd boasted about keeping up with him in a fight. The kid normally knew her limitations, but then he'd realised that the kid could probably light a paff inside his lungs as easily as she'd lit one over his head. Not that he wouldn't have healed up right away, but in the middle of a fight, it would have given her enough advantage to make them equals. Which means holding her hostage or trying to kill her wasn't an option. And he didn't doubt she'd killed everyone in that compound. He'd found the smoking remains a day before he'd found her near his cabin. The compound had been only a few hours drive from his place, and that had been a rather frightening discovery. Not that anything really frightened him any more. He'd wondered if anyone had managed to make it out, but according to what the kid said, it wasn't likely. And from his own memories of the Weapon X days, he wasn't inclined to argue with what she said.

So, that left him with money and the runt. Besides, he didn't really want to kill her anyway. 

'Ah, it'll do. The runt's always fun ta get riled. 'Sides. It'll be interestin' ta see 'em all freak out over the kid.'

Their hands were cold. That was the most memorable thing about it. And that was what transmitted most in her dreams. That and the damn chemical smell. She'd never be able to talk with Hank and Bobby again, because of those two factors. It was a painful thought, and even though she knew it was just a dream, it was something she couldn't alter. And that scared her even more.

For a long time, ever since she'd first seen Gateway, she'd had a remarkable ability to control her dreams. The only one she'd ever told about it was a telepath she'd met during her trip with Wolvie around the Orient. The 'path had suggested it was a manifestation of her latent telepathic powers. Jubilee hadn't really cared about it, except for the fact that when she said she'd sleep on something, like a practical joke, or an attack strategy for the next days training, she could run it through her dreams and see how well it would work. She'd always had that kind of control. But now she couldn't alter one little memory about a smell or a temperature.

That's how she ended up having a full-blown nightmare, and slicing the sheets of her bed in two. The pain of her claws popping woke her up and she sat there panting for a while. Responding to cat instincts, she got out of the bed and paced for a bit, then curled up in her blanket poncho under the window on the other side of Creed's bed. She didn't even wonder if she'd woken him, she knew for certain that she had, and that he knew she was moving around, but if he didn't want to acknowledge her unease, she wasn't about to say anything. 

A pillow hit her in the face as she sat there thinking.

"Go ta sleep kid." Okay, so maybe he was going to acknowledge it. 

"Can't. Pumped." She threw the pillow back at him and stood up again. She started pacing and he finally sat up. For a while they just watched each other, as she paced and he tried not to fall asleep again. Finally he sighed.

"Nightmares, frail?"

"Sorta…hey, you don't have to answer, but when they had you…were their hands cold?" The question brought an unexpected flinch, and she stopped pacing to watch him. 

"Yeah." It was more a growl then an actual English word, but in her current state of mind, it said a lot of things. He was upset, he was remembering, he was being somewhat sympathetic. Which was unheard of, but considering he was one of the few people who had been through what she had, it was also understandable. Jubilee purred back a reassurance and a sympathy that he understood instantly. "You gonna sleep?"

"Maybe…my hands are just hurting. Sorry I woke you. I'll…I'm gonna go for a walk. I'll sleep on the ride tomorrow." She was out the door before he could speak, not that he had anything to say. It was her choice, after all. 

The next day she was still wide awake, and not showing any signs of lack of sleep. Creed had gotten her breakfast, and clothes, with some rather weird looks from the lady at the counter when she scanned the women's underwear across the pricer. Jubilee had promised him an extra two thousand out of her own personal account for that humiliation. Glad to finally be back in proper clothes, even if they were just a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt, Jubilee sipped her coffee and watched the landscapes fly past. Certain memories were streaming into her head, as the caffeine unlocked some of the buried parts of her brain. She wasn't so sure she should trust all of these new memories, but she'd wait until the Prof could have a look before she decided.

"Hey Vic? Why didn't ya try to kill me back at your cabin? I mean, I was so disoriented then, it wouldn't have been too hard."

"Like I said, frail. Curiosity."

"Bullshit. And will you cut it with the frail thing? I ain't a little kid any more. 'Case it escaped your notice, I'm nineteen years old. And I ain't one of your normal female companions so just cut it already."

"Sure, Cat." She glared at him. "Hey, it's Cat or frail, cause there just ain't no way yer gonna get me to call ya Jubilee. Yer parents musta been hippy's ta call you that." 

"That's what Wolvie said the first time he heard it. I think that's why he started calling me darlin' all the time." Creed snorted and nearly ran the jeep off the road. 

"You call him Wolvie? I gotta remember that, next time we fight."

"Uhuh. So really, other then curiosity, why not kill me then. A couple of years ago, you wouldn't have hesitated."

"A couple of years ago, I didn't know you all that well. You were jus' a punk kid that hung around with the runt and made a nuisance of herself."

"An' now?" Creed gave her a look that had something akin to recollection or recognition in it.

"Now yer a kid who just got thrown into the mix of lifers by a buncha geneticists who should have their throats ripped out. 'Cept you probably already blew 'em up."

"Lifer?" Jubilee's voice was a snarl of confusion.

"You've got a healing factor kid. A strong one judging by how easy you healed up from the adamantium bonding, the cold and the frostbite. If you don't overtax it, you'll stay alive for a very long time." She gave him a look that said get on with it. "You're not scared by that?"

"Creed, I practically grew up with the X-men. Hello, how many resurrections, alternate dimensions and other shit have I seen in the last few years? Like I would worry about staying alive for…oh…well, that explains why Bish-man said I was gonna be the last Xer. But you still haven't explained yet. Curiosity is not a reason."

Creed didn't say anything for nearly ten minutes, and still Jubilee's gaze never wavered from his face. Finally he let out an explosive breath and glared at her, while he kept one eye on the traffic in front of them, which seemed to consist of one old Volvo that was going to get very dead if it didn't let Creed overtake it real soon. 

"I didn't attack because it was you, okay!" He shrugged uneasily and continued to glare at her. The Volvo wavered uncertainly as he speed up behind it. "Look, you said it yourself, last night, we've been fighting each other since you were thirteen. Six damn years, Cat! You think I can carry an impersonal fight against you, jus' cause ya hung around the runt all that time?" Jubilee's expression got very suddenly confounded, as she sampled the scents in the jeep. 

Anger, rage, and…embarrassment? She wasn't established enough with her senses to understand all the smells yet.

"So the fight got personal? That doesn't explain anything."

He growled. She kept looking at him. 

"There never was a fight against you." The Volvo was swerving slightly, trying to keep ahead of him. With sharp eyes, they could see that the driver was scared.

"Okay…then what was it? Cause trying to kill me sounds either like a fight or an impersonal warfare."

He didn't answer, and she knew she wasn't going to get an answer, at least not at the moment. With a snort of annoyance she flicked the radio on and surfed the channels till she found some good old rock and roll. If there was one thing she knew about travelling with feral old men, it was that they did not like her kind of music, and this was the closest to good listening she was going to get.

Creed responded by finally over taking the Volvo. The driver had his head on the steering wheel, and appeared to be fervently praying. 

Crossing the boarder had been an interesting experience, since Jubilee obviously did not have her passport, and Creed was a well-known mutant terrorist. 

She looked back at the devastated boarder posts and winced. 

"Does this always happen when you want to go somewhere?"

"'Pends on where I'm goin'. We should be in ta Mass by this afternoon, you gonna finally grab some sleep?"

The question was a good one, since they'd had to stay two more nights in motels and the most sleep she'd gotten was an hour, before the nightmares woke her up. Even now, with the help of her healing factor, she was only vibrating slightly. 

"Nope." Even so, she climbed over the seat and landed in the back with a gracefulness that sprung more from her gymnastic roots then her feral ones. It was merely a search for space, rather then a search for sleep, however. 

They'd gone another three hours drive, and were almost to Massachusetts when a strange thought invaded her mind. 

"Frosty? Prof?"

__

Jean, honey. Are you alright?!

"Oh, hey, Red. Yeah, I'm fine, yes that is Sabertooth driving, and yes, my memories are messed up. Where are you?" There was a moment of silence and then an astonished mental gasp and a growl from Creed. A clear indication that Jean had just tried to get something from his mind. 

__

Good god! Weapon X?! Oh, god, Jubilee!

"Jean! I'm fine, calm down. Look, where's the Prof, I need to talk to him. I'd rather have him or Cable scan my head. They've both already seen stuff like what has happened to me, an' I don't want you and Frosty freaking out over it."

__

The X-men, most of us anyway, are all in Massachusetts. There was news that a laboratory compound in Canada was destroyed, and then Sabertooth crossed the boarder rather destructively a few hours ago…well, I guess you were there. 

Jubilation? Ah…Mr Creed. I take it Jubilee has…hired you…to bring her home safely?

"Somethin' like that Cueball. I expect ta get paid for this."

__

Of course. But may I suggest that Jean or Scott meet you on the road somewhere, instead of the two of you driving straight into the White Queen's home?

"It's cool Prof. He'll drop me off a few miles away, and I'll run the rest. Not like it's hard for me now. Is Wolvie there?"

__

Yes. Are you sure you don't want one of the X-men to pick you up? Why didn't you call us? It would have been less destructive then crossing the boarder.

"My own reasons Prof. Look, just get some money together to pay Creed, will ya? I'll deliver it myself." Jubilee threw her shields up around the car, and that was the last they heard from Xavier. "I'll, like, meet you some where and pay you, 'kay?"

"Sure, Cat." Again she noticed the slight emotion he showed whenever he spoke her nickname. She wasn't sure what emotion it was, but it wasn't natural to him. But, as with the first day she'd questioned him about why he hadn't killed her, wouldn't say anything about it.

Another hours drive, and they had finally come up to a place just five miles from the school. 

"This'll do." The jeep was pulled over, and she got out, taking only the few clothes and things he had bought her. "Where do you want to meet, to get your money?"

"How 'bout here? You can run that far in one night, pretty easy, right? So I'll meet you back here in a couple of days." Jubilee nodded, looked around, put the landmarks in to her memory and then turned back to him.

She looked at him with eyes that had to squint slightly, thanks to the sun that glinted off the snow the valley was named after. "Hey Vic? Thanks." With that she bounded off into the woods that surrounded this area of the highway, not minding that she still had bare feet, and the ground still had snow everywhere. 

The man commonly known as Sabertooth to the world at large watched her run off with eyes that drank in every detail. He for one was glad that she couldn't see the…well…it really only could be described as longing, in his eyes. He had to wonder if she knew about the effect she had on him.

Well…maybe he could find that out when she came back with Cueball's money. If there was one thing about the little Cat, she was honest. She'd be back. 


	3. Return to Humanity

I'm so sorry that it took me so long to get this updated. Sorry, sorry, sorry! *ducks and hides from all the flying flames* I'll have the next one up quicker I promise.

Reviews always help, of course…hint, hint. 

Chapter 3

It only took Jubilee around twenty minutes to run all the way to the back of the Massachusetts school. She wasn't all that shocked about her new speed; it probably came from her healing factor. Her muscles and limbs were at their best, even though she was low on energy, and her endurance was even better. She wasn't even breathing hard when she leapt into the tree that looked out on to the oval at the back of the school. 

She wasn't sure if she could do this. She knew she'd changed, drastically from what she had once been. She'd grown over a foot in hight, or so her time standing in front of one of the motel mirrors told her. Her hair was longer, almost to her waist, and had gone slightly grey and blue at the tips. Her pupils were slitted, which she was slightly worried about, since she'd never met another feral with slitted eyes. She was slightly more muscular, even though she was still malnourished from so many weeks in the cells. The last big change had been her voice. Her vocal chords had changed to accommodate the feral noises she made instinctively. The purrs, growls and snarls wouldn't have sounded even half way as real if her voice hadn't changed from deep tenor into a light baritone with a rumbling edge.

The problem was, she didn't know how Wolvie would react to this.

"You jus' gonna sit dere all day?" Jubilee had flipped out of the tree at the first word, and was crouching in a fighting stance, claws fully extended at the last. Remy watched with eyes that glowed in pure misery as the claws retracted. "Jeannie sen' me t' meet ya, p'tite." He looked her up and down, as she stood up straight, and sighed. "No' so small any more, are ya?"

He cautiously extended a hand toward her, and waited patiently. It took her a few seconds, but she finally realised he was afraid she was unstable and feral. 

"It's…it's cool, Remy. I'm not back to what I was, missing a few memories, but I'm not as bad off as Wolvie usually is after a hard training session or anything."

"If yer sure, 'tite. Den come give me a hug, eh?" She was in his arms so fast; it was a surprise she didn't fly. They stayed there, holding each other until another scent hit her nose. One that was not comprised of cologne and cards.

"Wolvie?" Twisting around to look, she spotted him leaning against a tree, taking in her form with his eyes. And her scent with his nose.

'Oh shit.'

"You were with Sabertooth!" He looked as if he was about to go off in a rage, but she forestalled it by untangling her right hand from Remy's trench coat and popping the claws again. She was starting to get used to that feeling of pain and flesh breaking. Logan almost went cross-eyed as he looked at her claws, and then his own unsheathed. "Wha-?"

"Weapon X decided on a new program. They did the whole routine, including healing factor and super senses. Thing is, that during the adamantium bonding process, as well as adding the claws, they had to take my collar off; the pain set off my paffs, and boom. No more lab. I destroyed most of the compound, escaped, walked around for about a day, ended up a mile from Sabertooth's cabin…"

Logan stepped toward her, retracted his claws and reached for her hand. She allowed the contact and his explorations of her claws and knuckles then retracted them and all three watched as the knuckle wounds closed. 

"'Tite? Creed 'urt you any?" Jubilee leaned back into Remy's hug, glad for the human contact and his unique scent washing over her.

"No. Actually he took fairly good care of me. Didn't even complain when I couldn't sleep because of the nightmares. Even brought me clothes. Including underwear." The startled looks from both of them made her grin, since they were obviously startled for two reasons. "Yes, he really did go in and buy me underwear without ripping the sales lady's throat out, and no, I was not completely naked when he found me. I had a jumpsuit from the lab on. Calm down already."

"Why would 'Tooth of all people…?"

"I asked him, and he wouldn't tell me. Said curiosity, but I didn't believe him. The Professor contacted us just a couple of hours ago, and promised him he'd be payed for delivering me safely home. We figured it wasn't a good idea for Creed of all people to drive up to the front door, so he dropped me off a few miles away. Wolvie? You okay?"

Logan shook his head and pulled her away from Remy and into a hug of his own. She giggled when she found that she was indeed a few inches taller then him. 

"You be quite, brat. C'mon. I know you won't like this, but you need to let Hank and Cecelia check you over. Me an Gumbo will be down there in the medlab with you, okay?" She shivered, and he hugged her harder.

"S'pose I gotta get it over with. And I'll have to talk to everyone else." She looked to the man whom she considered as her father, and the man who had always treated her as a little sister, then nodded and stepped out of their grasps. She didn't want to be seen as weak. She knew it was an animal instinct, not to let weakness show, but it was part of her now, and she would work with those instincts. "C'mon."

Her arrival back into the mansion was quite, and unseen. Apparently everyone else was in the rec room on the other side of the school. She felt the individual touches of the adult telepaths, welcoming her back, and Frost's comforting reprimand.

__

How many times do I have to tell you! Stop getting kidnapped!

'Yes Ma'am. As you say ma'am. Good to hear your voice Frosty.'

__

Yes well. Just as long as you stop giving me scares like this. Henry and Cecelia are on their way down to the laboratory. Will you be comfortable, or do you wish for a telepath to be there to calm your thoughts?

'Not such a good idea. They used a mercenary telepath to scramble my brain while they did the bonding process. I don't think I should associate 'paths and labs at the moment. And Frosty…please don't take it as an offence, but I'd rather have Cable or the Prof in my head. Preferably Cable, since he's seen the kind of things I've gone through more then Chuckles, and his mental touch isn't even slightly like that bitch Corlla's.'

__

I…I understand, of course. I can see where you would not want to traumatise any one with the memories, or have to relive them with a female telepath deep in your mind. I will ask Xavier to have Cable brought here immediately.

Jubilee sent a mental hug down the connection and set her shields in place again. While she had been talking, they had arrived at the Academy's medlab, and it was only because of their long association with telepaths that they understood the blank eyed stare she was wearing was not due to her fear of the lab. 

With a shake of her head, she cleared the residue mental power from her head and concentrated on keeping her emotions in check, even when Cece and Hank walked in wearing white coats. Her claws popped once, went back in, popped again, and by that time Logan had moved quickly enough to pull the coats from their backs.

"What? Oh, of course, my apologies Jubilee. I should have remembered how Logan often reacts after an episode." Hank took a step toward her, and she firmly had to stop her legs from making her body bolt out the door. She swallowed hard, took a shuddering breath and shook her head.

"'S okay. It's okay. I'm not there, I'm home, and it's okay. I'm safe, I'm home." The words were said softly, but everyone in the lab still heard them. She focused on Hank's blue fur, and took a step forward. She tested the air, careful, careful, enemy? No, wrong scent. Pack? Yes, pack. Fur, chemicals! No, pack, he is pack. He is not Them. 

"Hank…just…slowly. Move slowly, please. I'm…this place…don't startle me. No big moves." She kept her eyes latched onto his, where they sat behind his glasses, and it was with very, very slow movements that he leaned forward onto his knuckles. Next to him Cecelia, who had once been a close friend of Jubilee's, was now looking at her as if she were a viper about to strike at one wrong move. Which, technically she was. 

Hank moved forward, never breaking eye contact with her, which was a strange feeling when her feline and canine instincts clashed. The wolf wanted to snarl at him for challenging her to dominance, while the tiger/lion/panther she was mixed with was ready to attack him the moment his eyes wavered. Luckily she had more cat then dog, and the human was tipping the balance. Someone who could look at you without blinking or averting their eyes was a person you could trust, so her instincts said. 

She went down into a crouch, but a restful one, instead of one ready to attack. Hank extended a paw to her, and she sniffed at it, taking in the presence of talons, and feeling comforted, where as a human hand, especially one that smelt of chemicals, would have prompted her to unleash the claws. 

Hank finally blinked and pulled his hand back.

"Jubilee? Perhaps we should postpone this for a while. Obviously, since you have a healing factor, you are in no immediate danger. Go up to your old room, gain whatever reassurance you wish, and we will try again later. When you are less likely to maul someone."

He stepped back and ducked his head to her, eyes to the ground. It was so obviously a show of pack subservience that she had the immediate need to go find her old territory and mark it off. Hmm, better make sure she went to the toilet first. 

For a second she just stared at him as that thought flew through her head.

'Oh my god. Mark territory? Definitely go to the toilet first. Maybe have a shower too…hope Frost doesn't get to upset over claws marks around the house, but she'd be even more upset if I did it the other way….' Giggling slightly, she stood up, rubbed one hand behind her head, and walked out of the medlab, still giggling, and continued to do so all the way up to the main hall.

That was when it occurred to her to wonder where everyone was. Remy and Logan were following her, worriedly, but no one else was in evidence. There were a lot of scents though, and she identified each one as she found it. 

"Ange, all rubbery. That's Angelo, right Wolvie?" An affirmative grunt came from behind her, and she stored the information away in her memory. "The burny leather, that's Jono…and…the changing one with the hay and country underlay is…Paige."

"Yeah. She's got a weird scent. Changes every time she Husk's from what I've smelt when I've been here to visit you." This time she grunted the affirmative. 

"Wha' d' we smell like, 'tite?" Jubilee pointed behind her, one at a time.

"Cologne and playing cards. You know, that fresh cardboard smell and ink. And sort of…explosive, like gun powder. Wolvie is whisky, cigars, woods, earth, and blood. From the claws, ya know?" 

"Yeah, kid. You'll get that smell yerself sooner or later. 'Pends on how often ya pop 'em."

"Uhuh. Whisky. That's Irish, isn't it? Whisky and bourbon. Someone should really talk to Sean about his drinking habits. That's Frosty. All that leather and perfume. Yuk! I'm never gonna be able to wear perfume again!"

"Sure ya will. Just get that natural flower stuff. It's the only kind I've smelt so far that hasn't nearly destroyed my nose." Jubilee looked back at him as they climbed the stairs to the dorms and he grinned at her, teeth firmly covered. "Ah, smell that one? You know who that is?"

Jubilee stopped moving and sniffed carefully at one of the heavily concentrated scents that indicated someone from the school. It wasn't as heavy as the others though, which she figured indicated someone new.

"It's…kinda sharp. Like…like it's cold-oh! What's Ice doin' here? I mean in the terms of being here a lot."

"Frost as' him t' teach. Maths." Jubilee's look of utter disbelief made him laugh. 

"Huh. Looked like I got kidnapped at the perfect time." She continued up the stairs without looking back. She knew perfectly well that she'd only see the despairing looks from her two closest adult friends.

"Uh, well, 'e wouldn't o' been teachin' you any way. He only teachin' the juniors, yer still a college student."

Jubilee shrugged, walked down the hallway and into her room, grabbed a towel, some clothes and a razer from her cupboard and then walked back out. She was just about to walk into the girls' bathroom when she realised that the two men were still following her.

"Yer not coming in here." Her fist came up, and her claws popped on the word 'here'. The two men stared.

"Eh…course not, Darlin'. We'll just wait here 'til ya done." Her eyes narrowed, and her claws popped in and out. 

"I'm fine. Go down stairs and warn the others that I'm still a little skittish, and I'm acting like a combination of a cat and a dog. More cat then dog, really, but my instincts are doing the hokey pokey, so it's hard to tell how I'll react." She mumbled the last few words and walked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. 

She got cleaned up and dressed quicker then she expected even though finding anything she could wear now that she was bigger then she had been was hard. Finally she settled on a singlet that sat tightly over her bra (to her embarrassment, her breasts had grown at least half a cup), and some jeans that had once been baggy, but now fit snugly over her hips and left her stomach naked. She considered shoes for a second, then went barefoot. Right now, shoes looked too much like little foot cages to wear them.

She walked downstairs toward the kitchen in time to hear the summery from Gambit, of what had happened to her.

"Wait, so she's been with Sabertooth for the last three days?! And she's still alive?"

"Yes, Paige. However, it was agreed upon that Sabertooth would be paid for his troubles, as if this were any other mercenary body-guarding job for him."

"Oh. So…what are we gonna do about the chica? There's gotta be someway to reverse what they did ta her, right?" Jubilee judged that a good time to make an entrance.

"Not likely, amigo. They messed with my DNA, can't change it back now. Not without doin' more damage." Everyone in the room froze, and she took in the sight. Gen X was sitting in its group on one side of the table, though Jono was leaning up against the bench and Monet was floating rather then sitting. Jean and Scott were sitting in chairs beside them, across from Xavier, Sean, Hank, Cecelia and Storm. Wolvie and Remy were up against the other wall, and Emma and Bobby were just to the right of the doorway, Bobby leaning against the fridge.

Nobody moved, Logan having advised them to let her make the first move. She didn't, and they watched each other in awkward silence. Finally Frosty snorted in a completely un-lady like manner and moved so quickly that Jubilee didn't have a chance to respond to her instincts. She found herself in a tangle of white hair and leather scent and for some reason she felt safer then she had been in a long time.

"You're so tall." Her voice was almost silent, and Jubilee doubted that even Wolvie would have heard it. 

"Nah. Not really. Just not as short as I used to be. Frosty? Can I make a suggestion? Change perfumes cause this one stinks." Emma laughed and pulled away from Jubilee so the feral didn't have her nose buried against Frost's perfume scented neck. Jubilee grinned slightly, then pulled her lips back together, ashamed of her new dentistry. At that close range, Frost caught the thought and did a credible job of a snarl. Jubilee blinked at her in surprise and queried her instincts on just what that snarl meant. Pissed off mother wolf. "Frosty?"

"There is no need for you to be ashamed of your _teeth_ Jubilation. You will smile and you will enjoy it!" It was such a ridiculous order that she did smile, and exposed her fangs for everyone to see.

"Cool!" Her eyes flew to Artie and Leech, the latter being the one who had just proclaimed her 'Cool' with the same amount of awe usually reserved for $300 action figures or the newest Nintendo games. She smiled again and crouched down to be just below their head hight. The two boys hopped off from their stools by the table and walked around to her, and Artie gave her a hug before looking closely at her teeth. He fingered them, pushing her lip back a bit, then projected an image of Jubilee snarling and biting at shadowmen, while protecting Artie and Leech from them. Leech nodded in agreement. 

"Jubilee got new teeth to protect Leech and Artie." Jubilee grinned crookedly and held her hand up.

"That's not all Jubilee got to protect Leech and Artie." She unleashed the claws and watched the fascinated reactions of the boys, aware by the scents that everyone else in the room except for Logan and Remy were shocked and upset by her new weapons. Leech tapped the top of the claws, being careful not to cut himself.

"Wow."

"Yup." She shifted slightly as Bobby took a step toward her then stopped. "…s'okay, Drake, 's jus', no big moves. The boys aren't a threat to me; an' Emma startled me into not reactin'. But I'm on my game now, an' I can't handle big movement like…like a human would." She retracted her claws and wrapped her arms around her knees, her feet shifting automatically to balance the light metal that now coated her bones. 

Bobby looked her over, humphed at her and went down on his own haunches, looking her directly in the eyes. It was such an unusual move from her partner in crime that she rocked back slightly and regarded him with all three sets of her instincts, coldly, calculatingly. The human said he was a friend, and wouldn't betray her, or hurt her intentionally. The canine said he was a fellow pack mate, a young male who grew up in the pack, and could be trusted. Her feline instincts said he was a young male who was almost ready to go out into the world as a bachelor cat, but could still be trusted to protect the cubs of his pride, including her. The fact that all three sets of instincts said trust him made her blink and react as a human, rather then animal.

With a smile she jumped and tackled him, in the same manner she had only a few months ago the last time she'd visited the X-mansion. He responded by flipping her over, slightly surprised by the added weight of the metal, and they landed, this time with her on the bottom of the pile, being tickled just under the ribs. She gasped for breath as she began to laugh, and her claws popped involuntarily, but Bobby continued to tickle her until she managed to get her legs in the right position and flipped them both again. They crashed into the kitchen door that led outside and the two of them tumbled down the stairs in a heap of laughter, flesh and snow. She'd forgotten it was still winter outside. She hadn't really noticed it before. He was back on top of her and tickling her once more.

"Okay, okay! Uncle! Uncle!" He tickled her for another few seconds and then fell back, sitting on her thighs, his knees up and his chin rested against one fist. 

"Surrender? Already? Huh." He almost looked disappointed. Jubilee was still giggling, aware that the others were looking at them as if they were nuts. All except Hank, who had seen them do this before.

Jubilee lifted her eyes and looked at them all upside down, comforted by the weight on her legs, and knowing that the cat and dog in her was relaxed enough for her human to take control. 

"Any chance of dinner soon?" It was almost dark. "Creed didn't stop for lunch, and I'm still getting my strength back from being in the cells so long." Sean cleared his throat and blinked as her slitted eyes focused on him. 

"Well lass, I believe we could whip somethin' up. Or would you like fast food?" She scrunched her nose. As they had been coming down through Canada, she had talked Creed into letting her get McDonald's. It was a mistake she had payed for, as he hadn't stopped laughing all day. The chemicals had made her throw up. She'd finally understood why Wolvie had never let her take him to McYuckies, as he called it. 

"She can't handle fast food any more. Her nose is too strong, and so are her tastebuds. C'mon, kid, I'll get ya a nice bloody steak, some 'taters and a beer." Her eyebrow rose in surprise. "Yer may not be old enough, but there ain't no way you'll be able to get drunk, an yer metabolism needs alcohol."

"It does?" Was that why Creed had…?

"Yup. Somethin' to do with the healing factor over taxing the natural alcohol in yer system. 'Specially after being starved. I'd be surprised if Creed hadn't forced ya ta drink at least one beer on the way down. He obviously wanted you alive, fer some reason…" 

"Ah, well, now that ya mention it, he did give me a beer…or three…" That had been an interesting experience. She'd felt the slight drunkenness arrive, and then suddenly it was gone, and she was having another drink. Somehow he'd even talked her into a challenge. "And o' course, the shots."

The teachers were looking shocked, the students were looking envious, and Remy was chuckling, while Bobby grinned at her.

"Shots? You had shots? With Victor Creed?"

"Yup! Vodka. He challenged me to a drinking contest." Logan was caught between chuckling and scowling. She actually sounded like she'd had fun with the man! 

"Who won?" She blinked at Remy's question and considered.

"Ya know. I don't got a clue. I got too drunk to continue, so he ended up hauling me back to my hotel room." She pushed Bobby off her legs, and stood up; dusted snow off her backside, grumbled a bit about her unprotected feet and pulled Bobby off the ground. "Right, food. Beer. And clothes…uh…maybe we better delay that last one until I'm less likely to kill someone at a wrong move. M, Paige, can I borrow some of yer clothes in the mean time?" The two girls nodded and stepped forward, and she grinned at them again, carefully keeping her fangs covered so as not to scare them. Paige noticed and shook her head, then stepped forward to hug her. 

Jubilee's nose twitched, and she took in the scent. 

'Pack sister. Litter mate.' Jubilee hugged back and then turned her eyes and nose to M. She actually smelt expensive. There was…a richness, about her. She smelt like…money? Huh, she would have expected that smell from Frosty, but from Monet? Ah well. Jubilee pulled M into a hug as well, and Monet nearly cracked her ribs returning it.

Finally the boys stepped forward and hugged her, both of them whispering, verbally and telepathically, that they were glad she was alright, and home, and they wouldn't let her get hurt ever again if they could stop it.

Jubilee growled a thankyou, and felt her animal sides starting to come back into domination, reminding her that she was extremely hungry.

"So, guys. Food?"


	4. The Lions Sleep Tonight

Okay! Okay! Geeze, ya leave one little story alone, and they mob your inbox with story demands. *hides as another series of e-mails fly at her head* Alright already! I get the idea. One chapter, coming up. 

Oh, and for those who wonder and ponder and, like, whatever, about why this is late in coming? Shadow got an office job. The office is not plot bunny friendly. The mousetraps are now full of bunny fur.

A chapter of Immortality's Joy shall be forthcoming. As soon as I can find the poor plot bunny that gave me the idea in the first place…I think he got sucked into the office air conditioning…

Chapter 4

The Lions sleep tonight.

Cable approached her reluctantly, not sure what he was really going to find in her mind. She just gave him a look and closed her eyes, latching onto him mentally. 

~ Calm down, old man. Honestly, there's nothing in here that you probably haven't seen before. ~ He sighed mentally then walked into her mind and found himself in something that was cross between a mall and a forest. Shops were every where, but so were trees, grass and animals. People walked around between them, not seeming to notice the difference. 

Quite a few of the people were familiar, and he even saw himself a few times. Obviously, they were memories. Jubilee appeared beside him, in her mental shape, which looked strangely like a wolf, with cat's eyes, nose and ears. She also had wings. She paced along side him, on all fours, her wings fluttering and her tail lashing as Cable walked around and occasionally touched the shoulders of the memory-people. 

The memories of those people came back to him, and when he didn't understand one, Jubilee would elaborate for him.

All in all though, he couldn't find anything wrong, with the exception of the wooded area. Walking into the thickest part of that, he noticed that instead of being a separate wooded area, this place was grown over the shops that had once been there. 

~ This is…them. The instincts they put into me. If there are any false memories, they'll be here… ~ The animal-Jubilee looked around, and then suddenly was as she was physically, grey-tipped hair and all. ~ There's a place, just up here, they put fighting instincts in me. Martial arts. Guns, all types of other weapons… ~ 

He nodded and followed her. He picked over the place with a mental fine toothed comb, and came up with nothing other then useful instincts and techniques. 

~ Do you want to keep those? ~

~ Yeah. They'll be useful. Wouldn't wanna try fighting without 'em… ~

~ Jubilee, why did you ask me to do this? There's nothing in here that Xavier couldn't have taken care o- ~ He shut up as a memory-person jumped out of the woods, growling and snarling. It looked like any ordinary Caucasian man, except for the long shaggy hair and the fact that he was drooling and snarling. 

~ That's why. Careful. ~ He stepped forward and touched the memory, and then pulled back, shocked and disgusted. 

~ Ah…do you want me to get rid of it? ~

~ Nah. Thanks Cable. I just wanted to make sure there was nothing false in here. My other memories will come back over time, and I've been dealing with bastards like this guy since I was a little kid. ~ The telekinetic Summers' male looked like he was about to be sick, and she quickly used her shields and her training to disengage him from her mind, and fling him back into his own body.

He sat there for a second, gasping a little, then looked at her with some akin to sympathy in his blue and gold eyes. Jubilee waved a hand at him. 

"Please, after Bastion, Weapon X were just kids. And at least I got something out of it. I grew up around Wolvie and the X-ers, you think having my own claws, and getting my DNA changed a little is gonna freak me out." She released her claws and examined them. Eight inches long, she had figured that they were completely metal, whereas Wolvie's were metal over bone. She didn't know why Weapon X had decided on these types of claws, but it wasn't all they'd done to her. 

Having eaten and gone to bed last night, she'd made a strange little discovery when, in the middle of the night, Penance had come up to look at her. She'd woken up suddenly, and instead of her claws coming out, her fingernails had taken on the gleam of adamantium, and sharpened. Penny was the only one who knew about that little aspect, and Jubilee wanted to keep it that way. 

She needed some secret, just in case.

Shaking her head, she stood up, retracted them and stretched, aware of Cable's eyes following her movement, then walked over to the window of the room they were in, and opened it. She crouched on the windowsill, sniffed and licked her lips. 

"Hey, Nate. Wolvie's cooking steaks, we'd better hurry if we're gonna get any." She smiled at him, then leapt out the window, falling two stories and landing easily on her feet. Cable watched her run around the house, even as he tried to get his pulse under control, and then decided now would be a good time to go warn Xavier and Frost that they had a perfectly normal, hormonally-insane, teenage feral gymnast on the loose in the school.

The argument had gone on for nearly two hours, as Logan and Jubilee both protested against each other. Xavier was sitting in his hover chair, holding his sore head in his hands and trying to make them stop. 

"I don't care! I do not have the time or the patience right now to have to deal with you and Sabertooth at the same fucking time!" Jubilee roared in frustration, quite literally. 

"Watch yer mouth Jubilee! If you think I'm gonna let you go and put yer self at risk by meeting with Creed, ya got another thing comin'!" Logan roared back, and his roar dwarfed hers simply because he had more practice at making growly sounds. 

Jubilee went still for a few seconds, then snarled and walked out the door. 

"Jubilation? Where are you going?" The Professor's low voice still reached her as she walked, striding past the audience scattered around the rec room, who had been listening with awe as the two friends had gone into vocal battle with each other. Cable and Scott were grinning hugely, enjoying having their two greatest antagonists yelling at each other for a change. Emma was looking very proud of her student for standing up to her mentor, and the others were looking on in varying degrees of shock, outrage and humour.

"I'm going to the mall to cool down, Cueball. Don't wait up." Jubilee's unintentional slip of Creed's nickname for the man made her wince, but no one else seemed to catch it. 

She made it down to the garage without encountering anyone else to yell at, and started the bike Logan had gotten her for high school graduation. The fact that she'd convinced Emma to let her graduate with the others when she was only sixteen, and had only just gotten her bike licence had also been another reason for such an extravagant gift.

Inwardly, she smiled and wondered what he was going to get her for graduating from the college classes Emma had started to keep her students at the school…

'Where are the other students, anyway?' Jubilee wondered as she zoomed off down the road. When the senior Gen X-ers had graduated, Sean and Emma had used their contacts to find younger students, the same age as Artie and Leech. But of the ten younger students, only the two boys had been present.

~ Hey! Jono! ~ Jubilee projected her mind back toward the school, even as she took a corner at twenty miles over the speed limit.

~ Oath! ~ Whoops, looked like she'd made Cable spill his coffee. 

~ Sorry Cable, I was looking for Jono. ~ Mental grumbling came back to her.

~ Damn noisy feral brats. ~ She wondered what her feral state of mind had to do with him spilling his coffee. ~ You have a feral scent to yer mind, girl. I didn't know who it was, even after having been in your mind. Jono's over that way. ~ He propelled her mind in the right direction, and she found that she was sitting in the basement, playing a guitar at the same time as racing a Porche along a highway. 

The driver of the Porche gave her a seductive smile but she just out raced him. 

~ Jono. ~ 

~ Yeah gel? ~ Music played in her mind, he was trying to write a song, and she subconsciously suggested a different note. It sounded much better as he tried it again with that note. ~ Didn't know yeh had music in yeh blood, gel. ~

~ Yer looking at five years of piano lessons and another three of guitar, plus four more in between those, of singing. Anyway, I was gonna ask, where are all the little kiddies gone? And why didn't the boys go with them? ~ She swerved around a large truck, then slowed down, remembering that the cops liked to patrol this section of the road. It was a good thing she'd remembered about the helmet laws. 

~ School holidays, Spark. All our new kids got their parents, don't they. So they went home for the week. Sparkler, yer headed in the wrong direction. ~

She turned onto another highway and smiled. 

~ I know. I wasn't going to the mall; I jus' had to say that to get out of Wolvie's sight. And before you ask. Yes, I am going to go see Sabertooth and give him the money I owe him. ~ 

~ I thought you weren't supposed to meet with him 'til tomorrow, luv. ~

~ Yeah, but tomorrow, Wolvie woulda found a way ta tag along, and then I'd be in the middle of the biggest testosterone battle you could imagine. It won't be hard for me to find Creed out here. I know his haunts. Don't worry, I'll be fine. ~

Jono hesitated at his end and stopped playing. 

~ All right. But I want yeh to give me a mental shout every hour, until yer back, okay? ~ 

~ Fine, fine. Go back to writing your song. And try a D chord. It works well after the F. ~ He sent her a mental smile as he did so, and the sound rang in both their heads. ~ Talk in an hour. Bye. ~ She cut down the connection, and wondered if she were starting to get mental powers or something. Because it was getting a hell of a lot easier to mentally shout at people these days, and even easier after that to send them back to their own bodies when she didn't want them in her mind. 

Finally, she slowed her bike down to a reasonable speed, and began sniffing the air. The scent of Creed's jeep, and she knew its scent well by now, caught her attention, and she sped after it. 

She pulled into the parking lot of a run down motel, next to the jeep, and followed his scent to the door in front of it. It wasn't locked, so she didn't bother knocking. 

"Yo! Vic?" A rumble of surprise, and he peeked at her from around a corner, his claws extended completely. Obviously he had been preparing to rip her throat out. "'S jus' me, dude. Or didn't ya want yer money?"

He chuckled as he came around the corner. 

"Sorry Cat. Wasn't 'spectin' ya. What're ya doin' here?"

"It was either this, or meet you tomorrow with a pissed off Wolverine doing his best to start the biggest fight he could with ya. I know you'd like that, but I didn't wanna get caught in the middle of it…wasn't sure what I'd do if I went berserk…" She lit a paff on her fingers for emphasis. Creed nodded and backed off, sitting down on the double bed that graced the motel room.

Jubilee looked around, crinkled her nose at the pathetic excuse for an arm chair the room boasted and sat next to him on the bed, legs crossed in an Indian style. 

"So…?" Jubilee's mouth quirked slightly at his questioning tone. 

"So what?" She put a hand in her jacket pocket and grabbed the money Xavier had given her before Logan had started going nuts. Approximately thirty thousand in large notes. She handed it over to him. 

Creed grumbled at her 'so what' and took the money, his hand brushing against hers. Jubilee froze as his claws came in contact with her skin. She wasn't afraid for her safety…but something…

His hand was warm, and his scent was so familiar…it was so far from the memory of being trapped in a cold sterile cell that tears gathered in her eyes.

She whipped her hand back and wiped viciously at her eyes, trying to keep her eyes away from his stare. 

"Cat? Are you…ye're crying." His voice was incredulous, as he put a hand under her chin and lifted her head. Tears were indeed streaming down from her eyes, and the fact that he was being nice, and not taking advantage of her weakness made her cry harder. 

"'S nothing, Creed. Leave me alone."

"If it were nothing, ya wouldn't be cryin'." His tone of voice demanded an explanation. 

"It's just…I…you…" She shook her head and lay back across the bed, looking up at the dirty roof. "I didn't sleep again, last night. Well, not more than an hour, anyway. I'm just tired, Vic." He gave her a disbelieving look, but let her excuse stand. 

"Take a nap while yer here then. Only time you'll be able to get some sleep without a nosy telepath spyin' on ya dreams." She sighed, knowing just how true that was and closed her eyes. It took barely seconds for her breathing to even out. 

Creed watched her from where he sat beside her sleeping form, surprised that she'd feel safe enough to sleep, no matter how tired she was. He stretched a hand over and ran a claw through her hair. It was silky, and felt great against his hand. 

She purred, butted her head against his hand and fell into a deeper sleep. Surprised, he continued to stroke her hair, listening to her purring. With a small, happy grin on his face, he leaned back against the wall and watched her sleep. A few seconds later, he was asleep as well.

Which is how Wolverine found them a few hours later when he Remy and Jono snuck into the room. 

~ See. I told you they were sleepin'. ~ That was why they had snuck into the hotel room, instead of bursting in. 

Creed chose that moment to wake up. He looked at them; looked at Jubilee then put a finger up to his lips in the classical 'shh' gesture. They blinked at him in surprise, but didn't do anything. Remembering that the kid without the face was a telepath, he tapped his temples. Jono obligingly connected all of them in a telepathic link.

~ Don't wake the kid. This is the first time she's slept since the day I found her roamin' around near my cabin. Ya wanna fight, lets take this outside, inta the woods. She won't hear us out there. I think. ~ Logan looked down at Jubilee, worried and surprised that she'd willingly fallen asleep in Sabertooth's company. 

~ What the hell did ya do to her, Creed? ~

~ She's sleepin' runt. And here of her own free will. Now get the fuck out before she wakes up! ~

"Will you all shut up please!" Jubilee yelled suddenly, scaring the lot of them. Creed started and put a hand on her back, ignoring Wolverine's growl of warning. 

"You heard alla that, Cat?" 

She blinked blearily up at him. 

"With alla ya shoutin', o' course I heard it." She rolled over on the bed, which incidentally slid Creed's hand onto her stomach, rather then her back. She ignored the sensation of loss as he pulled his hand back. "Can I jus' go back ta sleep please? Vic isn't gonna do anythin' to me Wolvie, and I'm so tired." She mumbled, twisting around until her head was pillowed on Creed's thigh. He stiffened up in surprise and went very, very still, then started to try and move away from her. She curled a hand around his leg and sharp claws bit into it. He paled, recognising his own claws on her. 

~ Holy shit… uh, help? ~ He mentally mumbled to them and the claws on his leg tightened. 

"Shut up."

Jono took a step forward and carefully disconnected Jubilee from Creed, uneasy about coming so close to the large feral and even uneasier about the small feral. He ignored her claws and focused on her mental abilities.

~ Jubes, luv. We've been talking mentally, between ourselves. You can hear it? ~ She cracked an eye open at him, and growled. 

"That's great, Jono, real fucking excellent. Now let me get back to sleep. We can discuss it in the morning." She closed her eyes again, and put her head back on Creed's leg. He shifted uncomfortably again, but at least this time she didn't stick her claws into him. 

"Uh…maybe we shoul' go, eh? De p'tite, she can take care o' herself for de night. It pretty obvious dat Creed ain't out ta gut her anyways." Remy muttered as quietly as possible, and put a hand on Logan's shoulder, tugging him backward. "An if she gonna tear someone up for keepin' her awake, rather him den us." 

Logan would have protested more, but the scent of concern and worry, mixed with Creed's own hated scent was too disconcerting. 

"Night, darlin'. She better come back in one piece, Creed, or you're ten ways from dead. Permanently." Jubilee growled again, before Creed could respond, and a paff hovered over the hand that wasn't wrapped around Creed's leg. "Alright, girl, we're goin'." He stepped back, then turned and walked out of the room, leaving Remy and Jono to follow him. 

She waited for all of ten seconds, listening for them to go, and then the paff went out and her head came up. 

"Sorry about that. But I'm tired and it was the only way to get him out of here without starting a giant free for all." She sat up, blinking blearily once more, and yawned. Creed automatically put a hand up and brushed a strand of her long hair back behind her ear.

She sighed, and leant into the caress. 

"Vic…can you put me back to sleep again?" She asked. He raised an eyebrow at her. "I felt you brushing my hair, before, and it just…it felt nice." He blinked at her, and tentatively brushed her hair with his fingers. She lay down next to him and purred. "Thanks, Vic. I really owe you one," she sighed, falling asleep again. 

Creed continued, until her breathing completely evened out, and lay down next to her. Her scent was intoxicating, and he breathed it in deeply. Once more he fell asleep, with Jubilee's scent playing across his dreams. 

Jubilee woke up, all her senses wrapped in warmth. A warm male cat scent was twitching at her nose, and arms were wrapped around her. She opened her eyes to see the golden side burns of whom she now considered her former 'enemy'. He was sleeping still, so she took the opportunity to bring her face closer to his and sniff in the musky scent that was all his. 

His eyes snapped open and she grinned at him.

"Mornin'." She said chirpily. She was happy, she wasn't tired any more, and she felt completely safe. 

He blinked at her and returned the hello. 

"Mornin', Cat. You alright now?" He murmured softly and she nodded. 

"Yeah. Sorry about last night. I forgot to check in with Jono and he must have panicked. So…uh…are you taking off? You've got your money and alla that. All that's left is a fight with Wolvie, and you'll probably get that today…"

"Yeah. Probably." He wondered why she seemed upset at the thought of him leaving. "Why?" She fidgeted, then got up and stretched, her back joints cracking. Her long hair swirled around her waist, and her slitted eyes reflected the light. "Cat." 

"Why didn't you kill me in the mountains? And don't start with that whole curiosity, thing or the impersonal fight spiel. What was it if not a fight against me?" He blinked at her, before recalling the argument they'd had on the car ride down. He'd said he'd never had a fight against her, despite six years of trying to kill her. 

"You ain't gonna give up on that, are ya?" She shook her head. "If I answer, will you tell me why you seem so fidgety 'bout my leavin'?" She nodded. "Fine. Ya remember, two years ago, Sinister took us all? Even me an a couple of ex-Marauders?" She nodded again. "'Member how you were the one who broke open the cages, and got us all free?" She blushed. Even the X-men had never bothered to mention that. She'd thought none of them remembered. She certainly hadn't been thanked for it. 

"So? I had ta get us out. I really don't like being an experiment. The pay's lousy." He chuckled at her and she grinned in response. 

"Ya, well. Ya got my respect that day. Before that, I'd only been threatenin' ta kill ya, cause it got the runt riled. If I'd really meant it, you'd be dead already. After that…I used to attack you, just ta see you fight. Ya got a lot of spunk, and ya don't take shit from nobody. Ya interested me. Even the runt hasn't been able ta get me as curious as you did." He paused, searching for the words. "I…started ta like ya. Liked gettin' ya angry, liked seeing ya laugh…" he shrugged. Jubilee was blushing furiously. "I wasn't gonna kill ya anytime soon, cause I liked seein' ya around. Okay?"

Jubilee was still blushing like mad. 

"Yeah…sure…"

"So?"

"So what?" He glared at her. 

"Answer my question." 

She mumbled something to low for even him to hear. Looking up at him, her expression softened.

"This is gonna sound weird, coming from me to you…but you make me feel safe, okay? Believe it or not, but I trust you. I know you won't hurt me, and I know even if you did, I could take you on…" She shrugged uneasily. "I fell asleep when you brushed my hair with your claws, what the hell does that tell ya?" 

He just watched her for a minute, not moving, except for his eyes, which followed her pacing around the small room. 

"Ya know…I got a cabin not to far from here. Reckon it isn't much more then an hours run for a healthy feral." Jubilee's eyes glowed at him in obvious surprise. "I'll teach ya how ta use them other claws of yours." He gestured with his own talons at the claws that had appeared last night, and she went pale. "Yer no-mouthed pal, Jono? Him, the Cajun and the runt saw 'em last night, so ya may as well tell the rest of 'em about them. But I'm gonna be the one ta teach ya, got it?" She grinned at him. 

"Got it. Thanks Vic. I'll smell ya out some time. But first I gotta go make sure the boys are all calmed down." She hesitated, then leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, before taking off out the door. He heard her bike rev a few seconds later, and then it took off. Creed was still sitting there on the bed, a hand held against the cheek she'd kissed. 


End file.
